Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon takes the stand at the hearings of the Linden Commission of Inquiry

Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon took the stand this morning as the hearings of the Linden Commission of Inquiry continued and Solomon told the Commission, that the community had planned 5 days of protest action and had gotten permission from the police for that. He said, he got to the bridge around 5 that afternoon to address the crowd that had gathered there. He said, at the time he could not recall seeing any logs or any other thing blocking the bridge. He testified too, that he met with the police commander and two other senior officers 2 days before the planned protest. He was quizzed about whether he asked persons to leave the bridge.

Later, attorney for the police, Peter Hugh, pressed Solomon on the speech he gave to persons at the bridge, but the attorney may not have fully viewed the recording before questioning Solomon and so when part of the recording was played for the commission, Solomon’s message to the protestors appeared to be more about standing up for their rights and not allowing the protest to degenerate.

An Attorney representing some of the persons who lost equipment and were affected by the protest, questioned Solomon about the fires that were set and who may have started those fires including the fire to the PPP building. The commission was also trying to get information about that.

Solomon testified, that there were a number of organizations involved in the planning of the protests including the church and the business community. He said, on the night of the 18th his concern was about the persons killed and those badly injured and not necessarily the buildings that were on fire.